The ability to recycle objects has progressed in the last few years from being environmentally trendy to being a necessity for the preservation of resources for our future generations. Recycling of virtually anything that can be recycled has become a way of life in our energy-conscious society. No less important in this regard is the lowly, but ever omnipresent, aluminum can. The aluminum can is found virtually everywhere that beverages are sold or distributed. And, unfortunately, discarded aluminum cans are equally ready to find. Accordingly, a movement has been taking place in the experience of this inventor to manufacture, distribute and sell aluminum can crushing and compacting mechanisms which can be readily purchased and used by the consuming public.
The driving force behind this activity is the fact that aluminum cans have also become a much sought-after commodity. From the small children who gather discarded cans in the sandlot to their parents who collect cans in a household bin, the need to crush and compact aluminum cans has been recognized as a concomitant necessity to the reduction of shear bulk.
Such compaction has taken the form of stomping a can with one's foot to bulk compactors which can be found in parking lots and at the local aluminum recycling facility. Between those extremes are a number of small, wall-mountable, home-made and commercially available can compaction mechanisms. In the experience of this inventor, such mechanisms typically utilize a can retaining means into which the user or consumer manually places the aluminum can which is intended to be crushed. A lever, or similar mechanism, is actuated and the aluminum can is crushed between at least two crushing members or plates. The lever is then reversed and the crushed can is manually removed from the device. In the experience of this inventor, the last step of this process can be, and often is, an unpleasant one because of the presence of beverage residue which often accompanies such cans. Moreover, it is, in the eyes of this inventor, a completely unnecessary step and one which he has sought to eliminate by the construction of the device of the present invention.